Mystery in the Yorkshire Moors
I was hooked immediately by the story, the setting and the characters in Beneath the Shadows, and I finished it two days later. This is the author's debut novel, and I think for a first book it is very good. However, I would have liked some "fleshing out" of the characters and the setting, and I imagine that will come as the author writes more books. For instance, when they found the old Christmas ornaments in the basement I expected to read about those old ornaments and more about decorating the tree and Millie's reaction. But overall the book kept me reading to find out just what happened to Adam. I recommend it to readers who like English settings and mysteries that keep you guessing until the end.
Rated of 5
by Madeline M. (Sarasota, FL)
Beneath the Shadows
I enjoyed this novel. I did find the writing style a bit choppy. There was a little too much in and out of memories with the character/reader then being snapped back to the present. But overall, It was a creepy and spooky read, and I also liked how the moors almost became a character in their own right.
Rated of 5
by Helen M. (Petaluma, CA)
Gothic for sure
Although the novel starts slowly, it develpes as one turns pages and ends up with more than one twist. Dark, spooky.......what better place than the moors of England. The snowy weather enhances each scene. The characters are well-developed as they spend the novel skirting the heroine. This is both a story of the love of a man and woman and the love between mother and child. The ending surprised me and I am sure it will you also. A light but good read. I would recommend it.
Rated of 5
by Joan B. (Ellicott City, MD)
Beneath the Shadows
The prepublication hype for BENEATH THE SHADOWS calls the book a "chilling debut". The biggest chill for me was the descriptions of the snow on the moors. I thought the book was well written and it held my attention. I did finish it very quickly. The end just did not seem heart stopping to me. I felt the resolution was too contrived. The best part was the relationship between Grace and Annabel. My younger sister and I had a similiar kind of pull and push love. I really liked Ben, but his family was a disfunctional mess. My book club would definately get them all straightened out.
Rated of 5
by Kathleen W. (New Brighton,, MN)
BENEATH THE SHADOWS...You'll be surprised!
"They should be home"...what mother or caregiver has not had that selfsame thought when the time is late and loved ones are unaccounted for? Moments later, baby Millie is mysteriously found safe and sound on the front step in her carriage, Adam is nowhere in sight, and the reader is instantly launched into Grace's journey to find answers to this appearance/disappearance conundrum. BENEATH THE SHADOWS by Sara Foster is an impressive first offering by an author who shows tremendous promise in this debut novel. With the English moor as character in its own right, we are moved along in and among those people who populate Grace's world as layers of the mystery are gradually peeled away. I read this novel in two days because... I JUST HAD TO KNOW! I hope we will be hearing more from Sara Foster...SOON!
Rated of 5
by Jean T. (Paducah, KY)
Beneath the Shadows
I was pulled into this book from the beginning – loving the lyrical descriptions which set the scene and atmosphere. The author did a fine job of weaving in the threads of past and present and interweaving the different characters. I found the story compelling and read the book virtually straight through. A disappointment was that the literary tone with which the book opened was not carried throughout, settling for a more ordinary, somewhat choppy, approach as the story progressed. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the book and think lovers of mystery novels will be intrigued as the author sustained the suspense and mystery surrounding Adam’s disappearance until the very end.
Rated of 5
by Mark O. (Wenatchee, WA)
“Beneath the Shadows” - moor secrets than a spectral hound
All of the hoped-for geography of the English moors is here: windswept, desolate with a raw beauty, the ghostly ambiance of ruins. But the game afoot isn’t a spectral hound. The lurking danger is a web of inbred secrets, the kind that arise in isolation (it takes a village).
One part of good story-telling is timing. “Beneath the Shadows” is artful at the slow revealing of character and history. Relationships evolve, closeted skeletons rattle, and even the weather turns eccentric. More gothic than thriller, more romance than mystery, there is still enough narrative drive to keep readers turning pages at the speed limit.
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of 5
by Betty B. (Irving, TX)
